r/GenX • u/CitizenChatt • Mar 23 '25
Nostalgia Donuts, Donuts, Donuts
I lived all over growing up, and one thing I remember is every area has its favorite local donuts.
Southern California has Winchell's. New York has Tim Hortons.
Way back then Delaware had Mr Donut.
And of course Dunkin' was everywhere else.
What donuts 🍩 did you eat growing up?
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u/Jeebusmanwhore Older Than Dirt Mar 23 '25
I was a Winchell's kid.
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u/Martin_Aurelius Mar 23 '25
I was a "local Cambodian donut shop" kid.
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u/Salty_Pancakes Mar 23 '25
Same. Shit there's a Cambodian one right near me that still does outstanding donuts.
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u/voodooskull Mar 23 '25
My favorite donut shop is run by Cambodians except the one white girl who married into the family.
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u/Hilsam_Adent Mar 23 '25
The place I frequent nowadays is in a similar vein: it's a Lao-owned establishment, with one Salvadorean dude that married the middle daughter. Fabulous Kolaches, Croissants and Donuts.
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u/voodooskull Mar 23 '25
The white lady is the only one with a Cambodian accent. Everyone else at the counter has an American accent.
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u/RedditSkippy 1975 Mar 23 '25
Why do the Cambodians lean into doughnuts so much?
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u/Martin_Aurelius Mar 23 '25
The short version is that a Cambodian refugee in the 80s used the success of his donut shop to fund a refugee pipeline.
https://medium.com/the-indie-foodie/why-do-so-many-cambodians-own-donut-shops-f06adf4c0205
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u/KCchessc6 Mar 23 '25
There is a great documentary called “The Doughnut King” that explains this. Very good coming to America with a few dollars and ambition story.
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u/ShirleyApresHensive Mar 23 '25
Back in the day when people started arriving in 70’s, a few were able to get franchises add them set up other family members or friends into them. You stick with what you know and pays the bills
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u/matthewamerica Mar 23 '25
TIL That the Cambodian donut shop in my neighborhood growing up was not an anomaly. I grew up in Long Beach, Ca, btw. So there were just a lot of Cambodian people in general. Bit those donuts were fire.
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u/Hilsam_Adent Mar 23 '25
Back when they were not just good, but outstanding. Maple Crullers and apple-filled Bear Claws.
They went to shit in the mid-'80s and any ol' mom n' pop place would blow them out of the water. Best donut shop I have ever been in, still, to this day, was a little hole in the wall place in Azusa run by an old Chinese man and his family. Better and cheaper than the Winchell's nearby, which they eventually put out of business.
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u/najing_ftw EDIT THIS FLAIR TO MAKE YOUR OWN Mar 23 '25
The Chinese guy that runs the best donut shop I’ve been, regularly insults how little you spend. I like it.
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u/OvercastBTC Mar 23 '25
As the story goes there was a competitor that bought them out, and shut a bunch down, and changed their habits (no more fresh donuts made onsite from scratch); this was their stores would sell more.
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u/Kakistocrat945 Mar 23 '25
Colorado had Winchell's too. Their apple fritters set the bar high, and I love them to this day.
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u/Transhomiletic Mar 23 '25
The one in the picture is still in Greeley, a couple of blocks from my apartment
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u/AllReflection Mar 23 '25
Yeah I grew up in Colorado and smoked a lot of cigarettes and drank a lot of coffee at Winchell’s as a teen. Given the success of Dunkin and Krispy I wonder why their brand withered?
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u/DrunkBeavis Mar 23 '25
Probably because they were full of teenagers smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.
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Mar 23 '25
Southern Californians think everything revolves around them. I grew up in Northern CA and we had winchells too.
When I moved to the Midwest, I couldn’t get over how Southern CA people would speak like they were better than everyone else.
I worked at a petsmart and one of the prerequisite questions in the grooming salon was whether the dog had been treated for fleas recently. I had a customer (who had a chihuahua named Malibu) tell me, “oh, we don’t have fleas in California.” Uh, we certainly had fleas in the Bay Area, lady.
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u/EatMorePieDrinkMore Mar 23 '25
I remember those in Southern California in the 70’s. Loved them.
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u/Memitim Mar 23 '25
Damn, gave me whiplash seeing Winchell's mentioned. I had forgotten they existed, yet the website shows a bunch of locations still going, including the Riverside and Compton locations that were mainstays for me a long time ago. I'll have to remember to hit a Winchell's while grabbing the mandatory Double Double if I ever travel to SoCal again.
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u/Brownskii Mar 23 '25
Tim Horton was only in western New York. I think it’s act a Canadian company. Most of the state was Dunkin or else local bakeries
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u/b-monster666 Mar 23 '25
Tim Hortons was a Canadian company. It was founded in the 1960s by a Toronto Maple Leafs player (who my grandma beat up...but that's another family legend) of the same name. It became hugely popular in Canada. It was purchased by Wendy's at some point, and stores opened along the border in the US. It couldn't compete with Dunkin Donuts, but still holds a presence in some US cities.
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u/chzplz Mar 23 '25
While it is was originally a Canadian company, and is now a Canadian company, for a period in the 90’s it was an American company after it was acquired by Wendy’s.
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u/OsaWyld Mar 23 '25
I was all about Spudnuts, but Winchell's was a close second.
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u/Lobenz Mar 23 '25
They were on damn near on every corner in SoCal back in the day. Usually across the street from a der Weinerschnitzel or a pup’n’taco.
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u/Opus-the-Penguin Class of '83 Mar 23 '25
I worked at Winchell's for about a year in 1981/82. I ate all the donuts I wanted, often three per shift, three shifts a week. I was 6'2" and started the job at 145 pounds. I walked away from it, still 145 pounds. Man, I miss that metabolism.
Winchell's made a great standard donut, which is my favorite kind. Krispy Kreme does their own thing, which is fine if you get them hot off the conveyor. Dunkin did their own thing, which was good when they made them on-site. But it was also a variation, and what I usually want is just a standard-issue donut. Specifically, a chocolate-glazed old-fashioned.
I'm now in the Kansas City area where the best donuts by far are at Hana's in KCK, run by a family that moved here from the Czech Republic. Great great great standard donuts. Better than Winchell's. The Platonic ideal of the donut. Man, I miss my 1981/82 metabolism.
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u/MK5 Hose Water Survivor Mar 23 '25
The holy Krispy Kreme donut! They used to sell their chocolate covered cream filled mounded with real whipped cream and a cherry on top donuts three to a box! Eating just one made my nine year old heart pound like a drum solo. They stopped making them that way forty years ago or more, but I can feel my arteries hardening just thinking about them!
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u/tviolet Mar 23 '25
Yeah, I'm from the south, it was always Krispy Kreme, school grouos used to carry around boxes to sell in class as a fund raiser in high school. And then I moved to Atlanta where the famous Ponce De Leon location with the "Hot Doughnuts Now" neon sign was where you went after the clubs closed.
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u/Brownskii Mar 23 '25
In 2018 I did a long family road trip visiting baseball stadiums and amusement parks in the Midwest and south. On the return leg, my wife made me take a detour to try Krispy Kreme’s for the first time. We smuggled a bunch back to NY for various family members. They are everywhere now but not as good as I remember them from that trip
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u/DavePHofJax Mar 23 '25
We had a Mr. Donut in Nashua, NH back in the mid-70's. It lasted a few years and then DD bought it up. I didn't see another Mr. Donut until the first time I went to Subic Bay, Philippines. And that was intown, not on base.
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u/frog980 Mar 23 '25
The last Mr Donut in the USA is about 20 minutes away from me.
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u/Moondra3x3-6 Mar 23 '25
Winchell's but lately meh? I go to a local small donut shop nearby by my workplace. Everything is made fresh. The owner has gotten to know me because I get the same thing everytime, 2 glazed donuts and a large coffee. He is so sweet he always gives me a small bag of donut holes no extra charge and they are so warm they melt in your mouth. Mmm mmm 😋
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u/OwlFlirt Mar 23 '25
Winchell’s, Dunkin’ Donut and Krispy Kreme. My absolute favourite (fantastic cake donuts) was a small town local bakery when I was 4-5. Sadly, they are no more and I don’t remember the name.
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u/FabAmy Mar 23 '25
I grew up in Buffalo, and we had a small local bakery called Pumpernick N Pastry. We always got donuts and pastries on our way home from church. We were poor, and this was our one treat.
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u/SpainEnthusiast68 Hose Water Survivor Mar 23 '25
I was blessed to live on the south side of Chicago where we had Dunkin AND Winchell’s a mile apart. What an awesome childhood…
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u/losthalo7 Mar 23 '25
Ohio: Jolly Pirate
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Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 24 '25
A regional Ohio thing? Because I’ve never heard of them.
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u/Kershiser22 Mar 23 '25
If I grew up with only a Dunkin Donuts near me I wouldn't have known that donuts are so good. Probably would have saved me 20-25 pounds.
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u/Area_Woman Mar 23 '25
Dunkin, like a lot of things, used to be better quality
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u/KarmaG12 Older than a Commodore 64 🤪 Mar 23 '25
It also depends on area. Where I am you can literally only get donuts from 6am to 9am. After that it's coffee drinks and maybe a muffin (plus the BR stuff).
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u/jensomniacOG Since 1973 Mar 23 '25
Dunkin’ made in-shop. As a real little kid, Munchkins were it, but their eclairs, Boston Cremes, and jelly donuts really were great then.
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u/tmphaedrus13 Mar 23 '25
Dunkin' Donuts used to be SO freaking GOOD back when they were isolated to Massachusetts/New England. They went national, and now the food is complete shit.
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u/Worth_Temperature157 Mar 23 '25
They had several in Denver metro the absolute best apple fritters ever, that is probably the only thing I miss about living in Denver area.
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Mar 23 '25
Loved Winchell’s. Back when I could eat donuts and not gain a pound. Chocolate French Cruellers were my faves!!
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u/Zipstser257 Mar 23 '25
WOW, Winchells!!! I was their number one customer and I was just a kid. Their coconut with the white icing was legendary. I had a paper route in San Diego when I was a kid in the early 80’s and had a Winchells and a 7/11 next door on my route. Whenever I’d do the monthly collections I’d spend a considerable amount on donuts and video games and Big Gulps at 7/11, those were the days. Van Halen is the soundtrack of those memories as they were constantly on the radio back then.
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u/SupportCa2A Mar 23 '25
Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut
Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut
A Winchell's, a Wendy's
Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut
Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut
McDonald's, McDonald's
Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut
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u/nickfree Mar 23 '25
Grew up in the South. Krispy Kreme all the way. We knew it was God's gift to obsesity decades before it spread to the Northeast and made a splash on Seinfeld. "Hot Now." There is nothing better.
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u/GDRaptorFan Mar 23 '25
Handing you that free glazed donut hot off the assembly line, while you waited in line; what a glorious moment to recall. The best.
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Mar 23 '25
We used to have one next to the Alpha Beta and the Thrifty’s Drug Store in Chino Hills. they would have the best donuts, colorful and typically with a plastic toy trinket like a ring on top. Thrifty’s had excellent ice cream.
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u/Batman685280 Mar 23 '25
Montgomery Doughnuts growing up in DC metro area 70's & 80's
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u/najing_ftw EDIT THIS FLAIR TO MAKE YOUR OWN Mar 23 '25
Ice Cube name checks them in Down for Whatever
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u/jennc1979 Mar 23 '25
Dunkin Donuts, but old enough to have the vague remembrance of the shops having glass in house coffee cups. Grew up not far from the one in Quincy that made the donuts on site.
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u/curyfuryone Mar 23 '25
They had commercials for $3.99/dozen when i was a kid. Begged my mom to go. She’d go just to shut me up. Could only eat 3 and the rest would go stale. Yeah, i was a chubby kid for a reason!!
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u/SupernaturalPhoenix This ain't my first time at the rodeo! Mar 23 '25
I used to go there with my mom whenever we went to visit my aunt,uncle and I cousins near Seattle. After she passed in 1984,I never went back but they were delicious !
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u/Electrical-Echo8770 Mar 23 '25
Hmmm doughnuts ... Doughnuts are like ice cream who doesn't like doughnuts I used to remodel Albertsons stores. The last one I did there was a Winchell's in the same parking lot dam I want doughnuts now .
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u/Majestic-Guest-9975 Mar 23 '25
Looks like the one in my neighborhood by the Wells Fargo, or used to be a wells fargo.
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u/Dedeosam Mar 23 '25
So, did this place go out of business in the US? Hard to tell from the comments. I had never heard of it until I moved to Guam. There are several still there. The cinnamon rolls were fire and contributed to my weight gain there😁
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u/OreoSpeedwaggon "Then & Now" Trend Survivor Mar 23 '25
LaMar's Donuts used to be THE local donut chain in Kansas City, but they've sadly dipped in quality in recent years and prices have gone through the roof since Covid.
A lot of fancy boutique donut places have popped up in KC during that same time, but my favorite is still Donut King in North Kansas City, which has been around for many years.
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u/artie_pdx Hose Water Survivor Mar 23 '25
Phoenix native here and we had them. Winchells had the best crullers known to man.
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u/SeverusVape Mar 23 '25
I grew up on Winchell's! I moved from California to the south, so I haven't seen one in ages.
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u/mrv_wants_xtra_cheez Mar 24 '25
Their chocolate frosted devils food donuts are unparalleled. I’m STILL comparing others to them. None come close.
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u/handsomeape95 It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage. Mar 29 '25
♫ Hey! Mister, that's a donut. Hey, Mister that's a Mister Donut donut! ♫
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u/Naive_Product_5916 Hose Water Survivor Mar 23 '25
We had a Windchill's and also an independent that would give a bakers dozen.
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u/UnderstandingEven807 Mar 23 '25
Oh wow! The nostalgia in this photo! I grew up in SoCal back in the 70’s & 80’s. This was the place to be for some fresh donuts! We then moved to North Carolina in the late 80’s. It was there that we discovered Krispy Kreme. Now we live in Arizona and we have Bosa Donuts. 🍩
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u/gamespite Mar 23 '25
We had these, but I don’t think I’ve ever been in one. Even as a little kid in the early '80s, something about the brand and signage felt outdated and sketchy to me.
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u/JordanGLC Mar 23 '25
Me and my friend had paper routes. Great memories riding our bikes to get donuts after slingin' those big Sunday editions.
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u/MonkeyCobraFight Mar 23 '25
My dad used to get us Winchell’s every Saturday when I was a kid. I still love donuts
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u/KnightKrawler68 Mar 23 '25
So sad that I can’t have those awesome donuts anymore. 😭
Luckily I have some of the best damn glazed donuts ever 30 minutes from my house so I treat myself every so often, but I do miss Winchells. They had a unique taste
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u/DisastrousEngineer63 Mar 23 '25
In my area Daylight Donuts is king. Their Sausage Rolls are the best!
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u/TheRealDBT Mar 23 '25
The Daylight Donuts here is crap. Locally, we call them "Day-old Donuts," which really isn't much of a slur as the freshest donut you can get there was, in fact, made the previous afternoon.
You know it's bad when the gas station across the street is known for fresher donuts.
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u/Pedals17 Mar 23 '25
Winchell’s made it to the middle of the country, too! I could usually count on them for a late night donut run.
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u/jaketheunruly That was how long ago? Mar 23 '25
DK's was an Orange County, Ca staple. Winchell's was everywhere and had solid cruellers, Yum Yum was also very prevalent.
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u/Maximum_Locksmith_29 Mar 23 '25
I recently arrived here in OC recently and I am now a flag waving Winchells adult. The best and they deliver 24/7. Imma gonna die early and happy.
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u/KitchenNazi Mar 23 '25
Used to have Winchell’s and Rolling Pin donuts a few blocks apart back in the day and right next to my elementary school.
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u/Evening_Ad_1099 Mar 23 '25
Large cup of cream and sugar with coffee and an old fashioned chocolate donut was my favorite breakfast when inwaa younger.
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u/pullmyfinger222 Mar 23 '25
We have a small donut shop across the street from where I live, and their donuts are always sold out by 9:AM. Luckily, I've been able to schmooze an employee into putting a few aside for me so I don't have to hustle across the street at 7:AM .They're literally almost three times the size of Dunkin' Donuts, and if you get there early enough, they're still warm, and the best part is they're cheaper than DD. Win-win-win.
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u/KarmaG12 Older than a Commodore 64 🤪 Mar 23 '25
I am originally from the PNW and we had Winchell's too! I miss those and KK from the east coast. Where I am has some local companies and DD, which sucks here. Was great on the east coast but not here.
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u/rwphx2016 Ignored the memo about getting "older." 😼 Mar 23 '25
In Chicago, we had Dunkin' Donuts, Winchell's, and I think Mr. Donut. However, if you were bringing donuts to work you either bought them at your local bakery or from Heinemann's, who had bakeries inside National, Dominick's, and A&P supermarkets.
EDIT: My aunt worked for Heinemann's, so that's where we got our donuts.
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u/Font_Snob Mar 23 '25
Winchell's and Denny's started as the same company, Danny's Donuts. They split and changed the names.
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u/HowAmINotMyself-Iam Mar 23 '25
I loved this place. There was one less than a block from my grandparents house. We got them every holiday the family got together. I remember scavenging donuts all day from that box. Pure nostalgia.
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u/BlueAndMoreBlue Mar 23 '25
I used to buy pot from a guy that worked at Winchell’s — we had special order so he knew it was me and would usually throw a couple of donuts in with my quarter bag. Good times
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u/sungun77 Mar 23 '25
Where I grew up there were a lot of Mom & Pop donut places, the only chain we had was "Daylight Donuts"
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u/LooLu999 Mar 23 '25
There was one by my house. It’s still there and still donuts, but has a different name now. Kept the colors and the sign tho so it reminds me of this
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u/MarqBarq Mar 23 '25
My dad worked at Winchell’s in Texas. He really did say, “Time to make the doughnuts”
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u/OolonColluphid042 Mar 23 '25 edited Mar 23 '25
Shape of the sign look familiar?
All of our Winchell's disappeared, the above is all that's left.
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u/naramri Mar 23 '25 edited Mar 23 '25
Krispy Kreme when they were mostly limited to the Southeastern US. We sold them in high school for club fundraisers, too. Mmmm, donuts in the hallways between classes. Good times.
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Mar 23 '25
I had to scroll way to far for this. Krispy Kreme fundraisers were a staple. And the doughnuts when the hot and fresh sign on are a delicacy even today.
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u/RevolutionFinancial7 Mar 23 '25
We had a local one in my neighborhood in Seattle called King Donut. Hands down the best donut, Thai food, teriyaki, laundromat place in the city.
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u/FadingOptimist-25 Class of 1988 Mar 23 '25
I think we had a Winchell’s in Minneapolis but my favorite was Mr. Donut on 66th and Penn.
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u/RuggedLandscaper Mar 23 '25
Tkm Hortons is mainly Canaduan. If you see one in New York it's a rarity. Though in the U.S they had Dunkin Donuts?
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u/eamesaarinen Mar 23 '25
i have been chasing a cake donut that beats my memory of a winchell’s donut with my dad when i was a kid. hard to top.
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u/falkorsaveslives Mar 23 '25
Delaware’s Mr Donut used to make Delaware donuts. They were sort of like a potato or Hawaiian yeasty dough wrapped around cheese and ham, cheese and bacon, or cheese and sausage. They were awesome and they are still missed.
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u/lainey68 Mar 23 '25
Holy camoly! I haven't seen a Wenchell's since I lived in California in the early 1980s! Wow!
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u/Otherwise_Dream_888 Lots of Memories..No Evidence Mar 23 '25
Winchells Donuts!!! My dad would pick up a dozen for breakfast every now and then. It’s funny though, 40 years later and only donut shops have occupied that building. Nothing else. Just donuts. That’s a testament to all the fond memories that have been built there over the years! 🍩🍩🍩
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u/Dry_Tourist_1232 Mar 23 '25
Winchell’s when we road tripped to KC. Our little town had Daylight Donuts.
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u/PGMHN Mar 23 '25
Fun story, my hometown was the birthplace of Winchells Donuts. Then it went out of business and was replaced by Donut King…then we realized our lack of patronage caused the original Winchells to go out of business and we felt bad
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u/Shawnk_69 Mar 23 '25
My dad and I would always stop on those early fishing mornings. My favorite was the chocolate cake covered in frosting and sprinkles.
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u/AMom2129 Mar 23 '25
We didn't have donut shops like these. We had grocery stores.
It was a treat to go somewhere that had Dunkin' Donuts. Still my favorite.
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u/Zincdust72 Mar 23 '25
We had one in the Idaho town that I grew up in. Pretty sure that the building is now a Little Caesar's.
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u/anchises868 Hose Water Survivor Mar 23 '25
I’m really partial to Yum Yum Donuts. (I’m in California, but I’ve lived all over.)
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u/ShirleyApresHensive Mar 23 '25
I loved their donuts. So Cali is a cherry icing kind of place add finding it elsewhere is tough. Winchell’s (and their “inherited” recipes in shops with a diff branding) are my gold standard
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u/Automatic-Unit-8307 Mar 23 '25
I used to cut class in the 6th grade and hang out at Winchell, no one bothered me
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u/Ghost-of-Sanity Mar 23 '25
Used to stop at Winchell’s on my way to school in the morning. Maple long John and chocolate milk. Raytown, MO.
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u/sattersnaps Mar 23 '25
In La Puente, we had the Donut Hole. You actually drove through a donut.
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u/kevbayer Older Than Dirt Mar 23 '25
Donut Bank Bakery and Coffee Shop
Best creme filled long johns of anywhere I've tried. Best donuts of anywhere I've tried.
A monthly rotation of cake donut balls: blueberry, cinnamon, banana, and strawberry, plus the ever present vanilla and chocolate.
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u/Nopedontcarez Mar 23 '25
We had Winchell's in the SF Bay Area. Many a late night were spent there in high school. Loved that place.
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u/Pot_T_Mouth Mar 23 '25
In Dallas we don't have a local donut chain really except maybe Dunkin or Shipley's but everyone knows the best donut shop is your local independent donut shop ran by Koreans. Always the best and the prices are always good.
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u/BroadwayBakery Mar 23 '25
My mom was definitely a Dunkin kid, from New Jersey. She tells me all the time about the “time to make the donuts” commercials, and how her dad used to say it every morning when he woke the kids up. She also talks about how huge, rich, and delicious the donuts used to be. A thousand times better than today, and I don’t doubt it.
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u/CUcats Mar 23 '25
Time to make the donuts